Law note · Bahrain
Personal Data Protection Law, sensitive personal data
cite Law No. 30 of 2018, Arts. 1, 5
stage IN FORCE in force since 2019-08-01
kind Sensitive categories
binds public and private bodies
reviewed 2026-08-29
What it requires
- An app processing an individual's race, ethnic origin, political or philosophical opinions, religious beliefs, union affiliation, criminal record, or health or sexual status in Bahrain must obtain the Data Subject's consent unless the Art. 5 public-availability exception applies; biometric data is not part of this Sensitive Personal Data category, so it is governed instead by the Art. 15 prior-authorisation rule.
When LexLint raises it
crawls_web
What we found
Art. 1's Sensitive Personal Data definition covers race, ethnical origin, political or philosophical opinions, religious beliefs, union affiliation, criminal record, and health or sexual status. Biometric data is absent from this list, the same gap found in Qatar's PDPPL; it is instead regulated separately under Art. 15 (see the biometric_privacy instrument).
Art. 5(3) exempts data the Data Subject has made publicly available from the Sensitive Personal Data consent rule, but because biometric data is not itself Sensitive Personal Data, this exemption does not textually reach Art. 15's separate biometric prior-authorisation gate.